I’d like you all to do something for me. When you watch this trailer for Peter and Bobby Farrelly‘s The Three Stooges, I’d like you to picture Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benicio Del Toro in the roles that are now occupied by Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantopoulos. Because the fact that Penn, Carrey and Del Toro had even thought about doing this movie is totally insane, seeing what eventually came out of the project. I’m sure what they would have made might not have borne much of a likeness to this, because it couldn’t have been the disaster that this appears to be. But it’s fun to think about — a lot more fun than you’ll get out of this trailer, I bet.

How bad is this trailer? It made me sympathize with Snooki. Fucking SNOOKI. The Farrelly Brothers have wanted to make this movie for years, and as we’ve seen with passion projects from other filmmakers in the past, sometimes you just have to let it go. Having watched this, who wants to see this movie? Someone will, and that’s fine; I’m just curious to know why.

Part of the problem here is that the comedy of the Stooges was very specific to a time, and I’m not sure that anyone, with any cast, could have made this work today. Regardless, the Farrellys really don’t seem to have done the job, even though the impressions this cast does of the classic Stooges are sometimes pretty good.

Apple will poke your eye out with HD. The Three Stooges opens April 13th, 2012.

Left on a nun’s doorstep, Larry, Curly and Moe grow up finger-poking, nyuk-nyuking and woo-woo-wooing their way to uncharted levels of knuckleheaded misadventure. Out to save their childhood home, only The Three Stooges could become embroiled in an oddball murder plot…while also stumbling into starring in a phenomenally successful TV reality show.